1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary aspects of the present invention relate to a developer container and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a developer container for containing developer to be supplied to a development device, and an image forming apparatus including the developer container.
2. Description of the Related Art
Related-art image forming apparatuses, such as copiers, facsimile machines, printers, or multifunction printers having at least one of copying, printing, scanning, and facsimile functions, typically form an image on a recording medium (e.g., a transfer sheet) based on image data using electrophotography. Thus, for example, a charger uniformly charges a surface of a photoconductor; an optical writer emits a light beam onto the charged surface of the photoconductor to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor according to the image data; a development device supplies toner particles to the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor to make the electrostatic latent image visible as a toner image; the toner image is transferred from the photoconductor onto a transfer sheet; a cleaner then cleans the surface of the photoconductor after the toner image is transferred from the photoconductor onto the transfer sheet; finally, a fixing device applies heat and pressure to the transfer sheet bearing the toner image to fix the toner image on the transfer sheet, thus forming the image on the transfer sheet.
In such image forming apparatuses, typically the photoconductor and the development device are integrated into a single unit, and fresh developer containing toner particles is supplied to the development device whenever the unit is replaced. Alternatively, a developer container for containing fresh developer is detachably attached to the development device to supply the fresh developer to the development device.
In one example of a related-art developer container, a seal member seals an opening through which developer contained in the developer container is supplied to the development device. When a user pulls a pull tab provided at one end of the seal member, the seal member is removed from the opening to expose the opening. The developer is supplied from the developer container to the development device through the opening.
In order to seal the opening properly to prevent the developer from leaking from the opening, the developer container engages the development device in such a manner that a minimum of space is provided between the developer container and the development device. Accordingly, the user needs to apply a strong force to pull out the seal member from the opening, resulting in decreased usability. To address this, a larger space may be provided between the developer container and the development device. However, some developer may leak from the larger space provided between the developer container and the development device, staining an inside of the image forming apparatus.
Obviously, such decreased usability and leakage of the developer are undesirable, and accordingly, there is a need for a technology to prevent leakage of the developer and provide usability with a flexibly designed structure.